In the preparation of paper, woven fabric belts are utilized to support the cellulosic pulp fibers as they are moved through the papermaking process and converted from a thin slurry into finished paper. It has been found that mechanical stability and permeability control of these belts is critical to the production of consistent, high quality paper. As paper machine speeds have increased, fabrics designed for use in the dryer sections of papermaking machines have had their targeted permeability reduced from 500 cubic feet per minute per square foot with a pressure differential of one half inch of water to 100 or less. There has also been a trend toward use of thinner fabric constructions to minimize differential forces on the paper as it passes over and under the belts in certain process steps. These two papermakers' fabric requirements are in conflict, since the common way to reduce permeability is to increase size of the weft yarn or the number of picks per inch, both of which can result in increased fabric thickness.